Striker Leon Clarke warns Coventry City of threat former club Scunthorpe United can pose

LEON Clarke has promised he won’t celebrate if he scores against Scunthorpe United on Saturday out of respect for the club and fans which treated him ‘really well’.

The prolific front man spent three months at Glanford Park on loan earlier in the season and returns for the first time with new club Coventry City.

He found the net 11 times in 15 appearances for the Iron and has kept that form going with the Sky Blues, bagging nine in 15 since securing a move from Charlton Athletic in January.

And given he knows plenty about United, Clarke has warned his team-mates not to underestimate their opponents despite the two teams’ contrasting positions in the table

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“They’re fighting for their lives and it’s tight between three or four teams at the bottom so we know it’s going to be a really hard game because they will fight and scrap and make it hard for us,” he told the Coventry Telegraph.

“They’ll play at times when they can and we have to match their work ethic and fight and scrap ourselves.

“But away from home we know we are a good team that will go there and create chances.

“If we match their desire and work-rate then maybe our quality will see us through the game.

“It will be nice to see the lads and they have got a few threats.

“The wingers can cause problems. Mark Duffy set up a lot of goals, six or seven for me while I was there, so he’s a threat.

“But we’ll try not to worry too much about their strengths and worry more about ourselves because we know if we match their desire then our quality will hopefully overcome theirs.”

The 28-year-old arrived at Scunthorpe in September looking to reignite his career after being told he had no future at Charlton.

He certainly achieved that, and acknowledges the part United played in helping him earn a switch to the Ricoh Arena.

He recalls his time in North Lincolnshire fondly and is looking forward to a return - one he hopes will also end in a victory.

“I was treated really well and looked after there,” Clarke said.

“Scunthorpe gave me the platform to get my move to Coventry at the end of the day, so I will always show them respect and respect for the fans, so if I do score I won’t celebrate.

“I left on good terms; everyone was really nice to me and I always look out for their results because of my spell there.

“It’s nice to score against any team whether I played for them or not because I want to score as many as I can this season and it’s a game I’m looking forward to and hopefully we can get three points.”